A Look Back at the BIG 5

Happy Birthday to Us!

On March 15, 2020, Ann's Heart turned 5!We know, right?! FIVE!

What an amazing journey it has been. What's even better? We've only JUST begun! But before we tell you about our plans for the NEXT five years, let's review our last five.

Since 2015, Ann's Heart has:

Launched the Code Blue Overnight Emergency Warming Center; a cold-weather emergency space for those in our community experiencing homelessness. We have made incredible renovations to the Center in order to provide showers and laundry facilities for our guests. Since opening our doors in 2016, we have served over 250 individuals from the Phoenixville area community who needed a safe place to sleep during the winter months.

Taken over the old Sacred Heart Elementary School for a large-scale 'up-cycle project' with the goal of creating a community education center accessible to all Phoenixville area people. Thanks to the dedication of our volunteers, and our incredible donors, the Home of Education, Arts, Resources, and Technology is no longer just a dream!

We raised over $100,000 in our first-ever capital campaign; the HEART JumpStart. Thanks to the generosity of so many supporters and a VERY generous $50,000 match from an anonymous donor, we raised enough capital to jump start our first round of renovations to bring the HEART to life.

We took strategic planning to the next level! In 2016 we completed our first strategic planning session to develop four goals for our 3-year Strategic Plan. In 2019, we conducted an assessment and launched our next 3-year Strategic Plan, ensuring that we are on a path to fulfill our mission.

We opened the doors to the HEART! After several years of improvements, planning, and connecting with more than 200 volunteers, we quietly launched the HEART in late 2019 for a soft opening. We can proudly boast that the HEART is now 'home' to both Ann's Heart and Trellis for Tomorrow, a non-profit in residence. We have also partnered with several other non-profits to provide programming space in the heart of downtown Phoenixville. These programs include the 'heART' community art room created by Barnstone Art for Kids and the English Language learning program through Alianzas de Phoenixville.